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Old November 9th, 2019, 12:22 AM   #73
Mechanikrazy
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Name: Al
Location: Orange County, CA
Join Date: Dec 2015

Motorcycle(s): Thruxton R, R6 450 triple, EX300 (sold)

Posts: 263
2019 – AFM - Round 7 - Thunderhill and season recap

This year and final race weekend of 2019 were a long time in the making. Due to personal commitments, I could only ride on Saturday, but I was determined to get out to Thunderhill and at least get one final Clubman Lightweight race in to end the year.


[Sunrise at Thill]

“Riding a motorcycle is a completely elective activity. Nobody has to ride a motorcycle. I mean, you do inside, right, but the world doesn’t command it of you.” – Keith Code

Motorcycling was always kind of an abstract idea when I was younger. I knew my Dad did it as his sole means of transportation in Asia when he was younger because a car was too expensive. In college, I decided to take the MSF course and then slowly went through a progression of bikes from Nighthawk 250 to 05 R6 to 07 CBR600RR. As I put on more miles, I did some California Superbike School days, cornerworked for them, and did a few trackdays.

Soon thereafter, came a hiatus for riding as I moved to the East Coast, did graduate school, and started a new job. Finally, after settling in at work, I decided it was time to get back to riding and bought a Ninja 300 and started doing trackdays in earnest to work on my riding. Talking with Dylan Code at a school one day, he just told it like it is, “If you want to get faster to go racing, just go racing.” I got the bug, did NRS, and did a race weekend with CCS at New Jersey Motorsports Park. I ran decently mid-pack (13th out of 24), and even got a pass on a trackday control rider/instructor I knew.

“It’s faster on the West Coast,” said my cousin, an ex-AFMer.

After seven years out east, I found myself wanting to return to California, where all my family is. I took a new job, moved to Orange County, and began anew. I did the last AFM round of 2018 on the Ninja 300 to see how I would go. It was a struggle fighting to not finish dead last, and a lot of fun with safe back and forth passes. I got down to a 2:17 with the 300 at Thunderhill, which I’m sure was faster than I ever was on the 600s. With the new 400s coming, I decided to sell the 300 and run in 450 triples for 2019.

Which all brings us back to this past weekend, completing almost a full rookie season (6 of 7 weekends, though only 5 Sunday rounds). I went into the weekend with the goal of hitting a 2:06. Let’s just say the weekend did not start well. One issue I have been working on for forever is front end feel. I don’t have it. Haha. I got out on track and was taking it at 80% on the warm up lap, trying to keep heat in the tires. As I headed towards the apex of T14, I lost the front and went for a small slide. Doh. Luckily, the bike suffered only minor damage to the fairings and a bent footpeg. I patched it up with some duct tape and re-teched.


[Not too bad for duct tape...]

Onward to the only race of the weekend for me, Clubman Lightweight. Last time out at Thunderhill, I had gotten down to a 2:08. I was hoping to improve on that, but I wasn’t mentally able to push after the morning crash. Clubman and Afemme were gridded together (much better than two waves), so there were 13 of us on the grid, with Clubman in back. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the plan was to try and get through the crowd and stick with whoever got the holeshot. T1 was a bit of a mess as we stacked up on eachother. One rider in Clubman was making quick work cutting through, and I tried to follow. By lap 2, the two of us had cleared the pack and he was off to the races. I could tell by my laptimer that I was only hitting 2:11s, and the gap to the other rider continued to increase. In the end, I just couldn’t get there mentally and rode it on home to 2nd in my last clubman race of the year. So I didn't even get back to the 2:08 of last time. Next year though...


[Photo creds to Oxymoron Photography for the great photos all year!]

And with that, it concludes my rookie year. Running my novice year has been an awesome adventure. The 450 class was perfect for me, and I highly recommend the 450 triple R6. Marcus Zarra makes a plug and play harness that is incredibly easy to install. The entire 450 group has been awesome and welcoming to the newcomer.

Major thanks go out to the 450 regulars Owen (extra thanks), Brandon, and Ian for introducing me to everyone and guiding me in my rookie year. And thanks to everyone in the 450s that are too numerous to name.

I will look forward to bringing up the rear of the 450s next year and hope I can cut some more time off to actually get into the main expert pack at some point.
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